Lebanese security forces scuffled Monday with protesters near the parliament building in downtown Beirut, where lawmakers are scheduled to begin a two-day discussion and later approval of the state budget amid a crippling financial crisis.
Thousands of soldiers, including special forces, as well as riot policemen were deployed on major roads in the capital and its suburbs. They had sealed off the zone leading to parliament to prevent protesters from blocking the lawmakers' path. Protesters blocked roads further afield in an effort to prevent lawmakers from reaching the building.
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Lebanese security forces scuffled Monday with protesters near the parliament building in downtown Beirut, where lawmakers are scheduled to begin a two-day discussion and later approval of the state budget amid a crippling financial crisis.
During the two-day session, parliament is scheduled to discuss the 2020 budget that was drafted by the government of former Prime Minister Saad Hariri, who resigned in late October in response to the nationwide protests.
The protest movement broke out on Oct. 17 over government plans to impose new taxes. Protest organizers say the movement will not accept anything less that the resignation of the ruling elite, who they blame for widespread corruption and mismanagement.
The former government had hopes to bring down the budget deficit to 7.6% of the GDP in 2019 year and to 6.5% in 2020.
Lebanese citizens pass by burning tires which were set on fire by the anti-government protesters to block the southern entrance of a highway during a protest against the newly formed cabinet, in Beirut, Lebanon, Monday, Jan. 27, 2020. (AP PhotoHussein Malla)
A Lebanese policeman looks through a concrete wall installed by authorities to keep anti-government protesters far from the main Lebanese government headquarters and open road to parliament, in downtown Beirut, Lebanon, Sunday, Jan. 26, 2020. (AP PhotoHassan Ammar)
The protesters have been demonstrating for more than three months against the ruling elite that has run the country since the end of the 1975-90 civil war. The protesters have rejected the new 20-member government of Prime Minister Hassan Diab, which was announced last week.
Lebanese army soldiers try to remove burning tires which were set on fire by the anti-government protesters to block the southern entrance of a highway during a protest against the newly formed cabinet, in Beirut, Lebanon, Monday, Jan. 27, 2020. (AP PhotoHussein Malla)
During the two-day session, parliament is scheduled to discuss the 2020 budget that was drafted by the government of former Prime Minister Saad Hariri, who resigned in late October in response to the nationwide protests.
The tight security measures underscored determination to hold the two budget sessions despite the protests. In November, thousands of protesters closed roads leading to parliament, forcing a postponement of a legislative session after most lawmakers weren't able to reach the legislature.
In recent days, security forces have set up concrete blast walls around parliament and the nearby government headquarters, known as the Grand Serial, to keep protesters from reaching them. Over the past two weeks, downtown Beirut witnessed riots that left more than 500 civilians and policemen injured.
A Lebanese army soldier try to remove burning tires which were set on fire by the anti-government protesters to block the southern entrance of a highway during a protest against the newly formed cabinet, in Beirut, Lebanon, Monday, Jan. 27, 2020. (AP PhotoHussein Malla)
The protest movement broke out on Oct. 17 over government plans to impose new taxes. Protest organizers say the movement will not accept anything less that the resignation of the ruling elite, who they blame for widespread corruption and mismanagement.
Lebanon has one of the world's highest public debts in the world, standing at more than 150% of gross domestic product. Growth has plummeted and the budget deficit reached 11% of GDP in 2018 as economic activities slowed and remittances from Lebanese living abroad shrank.
The national currency that has been pegged to the dollar since 1997 lost about 60% of its value in recent weeks, raising alarms among many Lebanese who have been losing their purchase power.
Lebanese army soldiers walk near burning tires which were set on fire by the anti-government protesters to block the southern entrance of a highway during a protest against the newly formed cabinet, in Beirut, Lebanon, Monday, Jan. 27, 2020. (AP PhotoHussein Malla)
The former government had hopes to bring down the budget deficit to 7.6% of the GDP in 2019 year and to 6.5% in 2020.
Students, on their way to school, cross a road through the smoke from burning tires which were set on fire by the anti-government protesters to block the southern entrance of a highway during a protest against the newly formed cabinet, in Beirut, Lebanon, Monday, Jan. 27, 2020. (AP PhotoHussein Malla)
Lebanese citizens pass by burning tires which were set on fire by the anti-government protesters to block the southern entrance of a highway during a protest against the newly formed cabinet, in Beirut, Lebanon, Monday, Jan. 27, 2020. (AP PhotoHussein Malla)
A Lebanese policeman looks through a concrete wall installed by authorities to keep anti-government protesters far from the main Lebanese government headquarters and open road to parliament, in downtown Beirut, Lebanon, Sunday, Jan. 26, 2020. (AP PhotoHassan Ammar)
BEIRUT (AP) — French Foreign Minister Stéphane Séjourné arrived in Lebanon on Sunday as part of diplomatic attempts to broker a de-escalation in the conflict on the Lebanon-Israel border.
Séjourné met with United Nations peacekeeping forces in south Lebanon and with Lebanon's parliament speaker, army chief, foreign minister and caretaker prime minister.
France “is refusing to accept the worst-case scenario" of a full-scale war in Lebanon, he told journalists after the meetings.
“In southern Lebanon, the war is already here, even if it's not called by that name, and it’s the civilian population who’s paying the price,” he said.
The Lebanese militant group Hezbollah has exchanged near-daily strikes with Israeli forces in the border region — and sometimes beyond — for almost seven months against the backdrop of Israel’s war against Hezbollah ally Hamas in Gaza.
Israeli strikes have killed more than 350 people in Lebanon, most of them fighters with Hezbollah and allied groups but also including more than 50 civilians. Strikes by Hezbollah have killed at least 10 civilians and 12 soldiers in Israel. Tens of thousands are displaced on each side of the border.
A French diplomatic official who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to journalists said the purpose of Séjourné’s visit was to convey France’s “fears of a war on Lebanon” and to submit an amendment to a proposal Paris had previously presented to Lebanon for a diplomatic resolution to the border conflict.
Western diplomats have brought forward a series of proposals for a cessation of hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah. Most of those would hinge on Hezbollah moving its forces several kilometers (miles) from the border, a beefed-up Lebanese army presence and negotiations for Israeli forces to withdraw from disputed points along the border where Lebanon says Israel has been occupying small patches of Lebanese territory since it withdrew from the rest of south Lebanon in 2000.
The eventual goal is full implementation of a U.N. resolution that brought to an end a brutal monthlong war between Israel and Hezbollah in 2006.
The previous French proposal would have involved Hezbollah withdrawing its forces 10 kilometers (6 miles) from the border.
Hezbollah has signaled willingness to entertain the proposals but has said there will be no deal in Lebanon before there is a cease-fire in Gaza. Israeli officials, meanwhile, have said that a Gaza cease-fire does not automatically mean it will halt its strikes in Lebanon, even if Hezbollah does so.
Séjourné declined to provide more details about the latest version of France’s proposal ahead of his planned trip to Israel on Tuesday. He said he will have “consultations” with Israeli authorities to move toward an agreement.
The French foreign minister also pushed for the Lebanese political factions to come to an agreement on a candidate to fill a year-and-a-half-long presidential vacuum. Séjourné said that Lebanon needs a president in place in order to be “invited to the negotiating table” and to be able to implement any agreement that might be reached on the border issue.
During the talks, Lebanese officials also raised the issue of the ongoing presence of more than 1 million Syrian refugees in Lebanon, which has become an increasingly contentious issue. Lebanese officials have increasingly called for Western countries to facilitate their return to Syria.
Séjourné acknowledged the burden placed on Lebanon by hosting such a large number of refugees, and said that "all concerned parties must work to make this return possible in a voluntary, dignified and safe manner in accordance with international law."
Associated Press writers Ali Sharaffedine in Beirut and Sylvie Corbett in Paris contributed to this report.
French Foreign Minister Stephane Sejourne speaks during a press conference at the Pine Palace, which is the residence of the French ambassador, in Beirut, Lebanon, Sunday, April 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
French Foreign Minister Stephane Sejourne adjusts his glasses as he listens to a question during a press conference at the Pine Palace, which is the residence of the French ambassador, in Beirut, Lebanon, Sunday, April 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
French Foreign Minister Stephane Sejourne gestures as he speaks during a press conference at the Pine Palace, which is the residence of the French ambassador, in Beirut, Lebanon, Sunday, April 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
French Foreign Minister Stephane Sejourne adjusts his glasses as he listens to a question during a press conference at the Pine Palace, which is the residence of the French ambassador, in Beirut, Lebanon, Sunday, April 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
French Foreign Minister Stephane Sejourne, gestures as he speaks during a press conference at the Pine Palace, which is the residence of the French ambassador, in Beirut, Lebanon, Sunday, April 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
French Foreign Minister Stephane Sejourne gestures as he speaks during a press conference at the Pine Palace, which is the residence of the French ambassador, in Beirut, Lebanon, Sunday, April 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
French Foreign Minister Stephane Sejourne, left, meets with Lebanese caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati, in Beirut, Lebanon, Sunday, April 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
Lebanese Foreign Minister Abdallah Bouhabib, right, welcomes his French counterpart Stephane Sejourne, during their meeting, in Beirut, Lebanon, Sunday, April 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
French Foreign Minister Stephane Sejourne, center, meets with Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, right, in Beirut, Sunday, April 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, right, gestures after he shows a map that details Israel's strikes on Lebanon since Oct. 7, to visiting French Foreign Minister Stephane Sejourne during their meeting, in Beirut, Lebanon, Sunday, April 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, right, shows a map that details Israel's strikes on Lebanon since Oct. 7, to visiting French Foreign Minister Stephane Sejourne during their meeting, in Beirut, Lebanon, Sunday, April 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, right, shows a map that details Israel's strikes on Lebanon since Oct. 7, to visiting French Foreign Minister Stephane Sejourne during their meeting, in Beirut, Lebanon, Sunday, April 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
French Foreign Minister Stephane Sejourne, left, speaks with Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri during their meeting in Beirut, Lebanon, Sunday, April 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
